George R.R. Martin Explains Why HBO Didn't Want 3 'Game of Thrones' Movies

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has provided some additional insight on why HBO ultimately opted not to give Game of Thrones a three-movie curtain call.

As fans will recall, there was some serious chatter a couple years back about the series eschewing an eighth and final season in favor of a trio of theatrically released movies. As Martin explained in a Reddit-translated interview with German publication Weltthis week, the movies didn't come to fruition for some fairly standard reasons.

"David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the makers behind the TV show, wanted to finish the saga with three big movies after Season 7," Martin recalled. "Game of Thrones was supposed to end in cinema. It was seriously discussed four to five years ago."

Asked why that failed to happen, Martin put the blame on HBO not being fully stoked on the idea. "The executives said: We produce TV shows, we are not in the cinema business," he said, per Reddit user mellycafe. "And if HBO does make a movie, like the movie based on Deadwood, they only produce it to show it on TV—not on the big screen. Everything is changing at the moment. What is being shown at the cinema right now? Everything is mixing up. Nowadays we don't know where the lines between cinema, streaming services, and television are."

For now, fans have HBO's Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon to look forward to in 2022. The most recent update, given by HBO's Casey Bloys earlier this month at a Television Critics Association event, was that writing for the 10-episode first season had recently kicked off. Martin will executive produce.